User:Spartan1977/sandbox

Pharmacoengineering is a portmanteau for pharmaceutical science and engineering (e.g., Biomedical or Chemical Engineering). This area of research is focused on drug delivery and pharmaceutics with a significant medical or translational application. The overall goal of this area of research is to optimally engineer delivery of a pharmaceutical over time (e.g. controlled release) and at the area of the body where the pharmaceutical is most needed (e.g. targeted drug delivery), in an effort to reduce off-target toxicity (e.g. drug side-effects). It employs concepts such nanoparticles (e.g. liposomes, micelles), microparticles (e.g. biodegradable polymer particles), biodegradable polymer scaffolds, biologics, stem cells , vaccines (prophylactic and therapeutic), and gene therapy.

The term was first reported by UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and joint University of North Carolina/North Carolina State University Department of Biomedical Engineering. The term has been increasing used to describe academic units, such as the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and academic research labs.